Starlink is an ambitious move by SpaceX (and Musk), and it promises to live up to its motto of providing high-speed low-latency internet wherever you are, transcending geographical barriers. Batch after batch of Starlink satellites have been sent to space to build the constellation, Starlink rolled out to the public.
If you are wondering how popular it was, then these numbers should clear it up – SpaceX confirmed that it had completed the shipping of 100,000 Starlink terminals to customers across the globe last August. Several months down the line, the internet service has now rolled out to 32 countries.
This also comes after Elon Musk announced that the Starlink satellite broadband service is active in Ukraine back in February, during the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Musk had done so after Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation pleaded with him (on Twitter) to do the same.
Yes, you read that right, Starlink is now available in 32 countries, an increase from the 25 countries it had a presence in this February. The company announced the same in a tweet. In a map in the tweet, Starlink was marked as “available” (light blue color) in parts of Chile, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the US, and quite a chunk of Europe.
If you hail from these parts, then you will have your Starlink hardware shipped immediately after you order it. Do note that its price has gone up recently – the kits now come at $549 if you are a reservation holder or $599 if you are not. The kit comes with a satellite antenna dish, a stand, a power supply and a WiFi router, and services will cost you extra.
Other regions on the map were marked as “Wait List” (medium blue color) and “Coming Soon” (dark blue color).
Coming to the rest of the world, some countries fall under the “Wait List,” while many more fall under “Coming Soon.” The latter includes parts of Brazil and the US, the entirety of Africa, and several countries in Asia.
Unfortunately, India falls under the second category, which means that Indian users will have to prolong their wait to get their hands on Starlink.
Of course, we might have already gotten our hands on Starlink if the Indian government had asked the public to refrain from signing up for Starlink. But the government was hardly at fault in that instance. Even though SpaceX had set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in the country (Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited), the company did not have a license to operate in India.
Subsequently, Starlink had to offer refunds on the over 5000 pre-orders it had already received from India.
